Grateful For The Homestretch

We are getting down to the wire, folks! Eggroll should be here any minute. I am so very grateful for a few things that have kept me sane over these last few weeks of pregnancy.

Lara Dutta’s Prenatal Yoga

Lara Dutta Prenatal Yoga VideoThis 28-minute practice is just what the doctor ordered when it comes to the achy third-trimester body. It’s a great mix of chest- and hip-opener stretches, labor-prepping squats, and relaxing breaths. The narrator (Ms. Dutta??) does a great job of cuing, so it’s easy to keep your eyes closed through the majority of the practice. (This is a big issue for me since I do these YouTube videos in my office, which is currently filled with half-finished projects. It’s not necessarily the zen-like yoga studio I’d really prefer…)

Bed Time

I keep waking up around 4 am and stay awake for at least 30 minutes if not until Randy’s alarm goes off. I try to “stay in bed”, but sometimes that just doesn’t work. I’ve been awake enough that I consider getting up and doing something productive in the name of getting used to my new schedule with Eggroll.

And then I realize, nope. We can let that experience wash over us when the moment is right.

For now I can lay there daydreaming, reading a book, or watching Randy and/or Noah sleep. I’ve got nowhere to be at 4 am. No one yet needing me.

You can bet your sweet patooty I’m still using all my snoozes even if I’m wide awake BECAUSE I CAN! Sometimes, it’s the small things.

This Purple Sweatshirt

Purple Maternity Sweatshirt from Liz Lange at TargetYes, this is quite possibly the least flattering picture I will take all of pregnancy. It might even become the one I put up on the fridge to remind me to walk away from that next snack come March. But in the meantime, I’d like to celebrate the purple Liz Lange for Target sweatshirt I’m wearing.

I was so lucky to have a bunch of friends give me maternity clothes, but a lot of the clothes were either for summer or more formal attire. Towards the end, this sweatshirt is the only thing keeping me warm and semi-cute. (If you think this picture is bad, you should see what I look like in Randy’s long-sleeve tshirts…)

She’s All Mine

Sometimes Eggroll puts all of her weight on my right side making it hard to sit (or stand or lay down) or she can kick me a little too hard. Moral of the story – she does her best to make her presence known.

Until it hurts, I think it’s really cool and I’ll tell Randy to watch my belly dance or put his hand on it to feel her action. Nine times out of ten, this freezes her in her tracks. I swear Randy thinks I’m making it all up since he rarely gets to feel all the action.

For now, I’m the only one who gets to experience this little girl. As an only child, I don’t share well, so I’m enjoying this time when she’s just mine. We’re starting our bond already before there’s anyone else on her scene.

This is pretty awesome.

Knowing It’s Almost Over

Ironically, this last month has not been the most painful of the process so far (labor notwithstanding)… That came earlier on when I was still getting used to sleeping on my side and putting so much more weight on my sciatic nerve. While I definitely got to an “amble” stage where I am more uncomfortable than I would be otherwise, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s promising me that my body will someday again be my own. There won’t be a foreign body practicing her twerk on my ribs forever.

And you know what else you have to do when it’s almost time for baby to come? You have to plan! You have to make packing lists and collect menus and do spreadsheets for nursery projects. I could so be a professional “month niner”. That is if I didn’t have to actually have a new baby each time.

I know there are lots of other (soon-to-be) new mamas out there. What were your favorite things about those last few weeks of pregnancy?

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